Sanitary display-case



A. G. STEPHENS.

SANITARY-DISPLAY CASE.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.19,1920.

Patented Sept. 6, w21.,

En. n

PAIENI FFME.

ALBERT G. STEPHENS, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

Application filed. January 19, 1920. Serial No. 352,439.

To all 'whom z't may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT G. STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Sanitary Display-Case, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means for displaying a considerable quantity of merchandise of a loose, granular, nature, such as coffee, tea, beans, rice, sugar, and the like, in a manner to keep it clean, and sanitary, while amply exposing it attractively for thorough inspection by the customer.

rlhe object, also, is to keep the stock uniformly fresh by removing it from the bottom of the quantity displayed as sales are made, without danger of waste by spilling, and for replenishing the supply from the top.

I accomplish the above and other objects which will hereinafter appear, by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,-

Figure 1 is a vertical section of my invention on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view thereof as seen from the rear.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the two views.

rlhe base of my device i's in the form of a box preferably of wood, comprising a floor or bottom 3, front 4, back 5, and ends 6. This base is supported on legs 7.

Supported on the vertical members of the base is a glass showcase, comprising a front S, back 9, ends 10 and top 11, and this is divided into compartments by glass partitions 12, for the separate holding of commodities differing in kind or grades. The back 9, has an upper movable portion 13, to be taken out for access to the compartments in filling them.

rlhe box-base upon which the glass showcase is supported is divided into compartments corresponding with those of the showcase. The upper portion of these for approximately half of their depths are formed by oblique members 14, into inverted truncated pyramidal hoppers which discharge into a trough 15, leading to and through openings in the back 5. The hoppers and the trough 15 are preferably lined with highly polished sheet metal for sanitary reasons, and for better eliiency and ap- Speeeaton of Letters Patent.

`, f SANITARY DISPLAY-CASE Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

pearance, and the ends of the troughs l5, eX- tending through the back 5, are ianged and the flanges tacked to the wood.

The front end 16, of each trough is preferably oblique to direct the contents of the compartment toward the discharge opening through the back 5, and a part 17 of the bottom is preferably sloped upwardly somewhat, as shown in Fig. 1, to check the too free discharge movement of the granular commodity.

Hinged at its lower edge to the bottom of each discharge opening in the back 5, is a sheet metal door 18, having integra-l sides 19, with stop-lugs 2O (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) to keep the contents of the compartment from spilling out. rlhe lugs 20, arrest the lowering of the door before it reaches a horizontal position, thereby checking the wasteful discharge of the contents of the compartment. rfhe preferred relations above described are illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the operation of my device, the contents are removed through the hopper troughs by access afforded by opening the door 18. This keeps such articles as coiee from growing stale by reason of being left in the bottom where the receptacle, as commonly occurs, is discharged as well as filled through an opening at the top. To till the receptacle the plate 13 is tilted down, or removed, and the material introduced through the resulting opening.

What I claim is- A case for displaying granular commodities comprising an inverted truncated pyramidal hopper, a glass superstructure mounted on the hopper, a trough into which the hopper discharges having an open end, said opening being above the lowest bottom of the trough and said lowest bottom sloping up to the opening. said trough having an. oblique end connecting it with the hopper and less steep than the hopper side with which it joins opposite said open end, a door hinged at its lower edge to the bottom of the opening, said door having side members to pre vent wasteful discharge, and means to arrest the door approximately in the plane of the adjacent side of the trough before it reaches a horizontal open position.

Signed at Indianapolis, Indiana, this the 2nd day of January, 1920.

,ALBERT e, STEPHENS, 

